


Learn How to Love

by funnygirlthatbelle13, Littlekoalawings



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, POV Alternating, Pining, Widojest Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25191028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnygirlthatbelle13/pseuds/funnygirlthatbelle13, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlekoalawings/pseuds/Littlekoalawings
Summary: Caleb and Jester had made a deal that he will teach her Zemnian in exchange for her teaching him the Sending spell. But how will they use these new skills to grow closer?[Prompt: Anything Spell/Magic Related]
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 8
Kudos: 99
Collections: Widojest Week 2020





	Learn How to Love

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly I'd like to thank Tessa for doing this with me. This was really fun idea and really fun to do (even though it was a little tricky at times) 😊

Pirate life seemed to be full of adventure and excitement at first, but that had started to fade away as barely anything happened anymore and time only slugged by. Orly called it cabin fever. Jester called it hell.

Which was why after reluctantly having to fix another hole in the wall due to Veth misfiring one of the cannons, Jester boredly wandered around The Balleater sighing heavily and dragging her feet on the wood as she walked.

Jester was heading to her room that night when the familiar orange-ish brown energy from Caleb's room caught her eye.

She tiptoed into his room and poked her head through the dome, greeting a slightly surprised Caleb on the inside.

“Cayleb, what are you doing in here? You’re acting so mysterious,” she teased. 

A light pink filled Caleb’s cheeks. 

“Oh, h-hallo, Jester,” he mumbled, “I, um, I was just working on something.”

“I thought you couldn’t cast magic in here,” she commented, scrunching her nose up as she tried to picture what else Caleb could ever be interested in working on.

“Ja,” he admitted with a nod, “But I’m working on the equation right now.” 

He gestured to a piece of parchment covered in scribbled runes, some of which had been crossed out. 

“What are you working on?” she asked, entering the dome and sitting down next to him. 

“Oh, um… I was trying to figure out how to cast your Sending spell,” he explained, “You do a great job, but if we get separated, I wanted to be able to cast it as well, especially since you can’t find me…” he trailed off. 

Jester nodded. She couldn’t fault that logic, though she wasn’t thrilled about the idea that she might not be able to reach Caleb if something happened to him. 

“Couldn’t you just, like, buy it?” she asked, “I mean, you’ve bought spell scrolls before.”

“Ja, but I haven’t had any luck purchasing it.”

She thought for a moment before gasping. 

“Cay-leb!” she cried, “I can teach you!”

Caleb stared at her.

“Oh. Um… well, it is the same spell. But I don’t want to bother you.”

“It’s not a bother,” she insisted. Even if it was, it wouldn’t matter, single ce it was an excuse to hang out with just Caleb.

“Well, I, um, that is very kind of you, Jester,” he said, “But it does not seem fair to you, Blaubeere.”

The Zemnian sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. The language was always a strange source of comfort to her, though it was most likely its association with Caleb that made her feel that way.

_ Maybe she could share Zemnian whispers with him, too? _

“You could teach me Zemnian,” she offered.

Caleb stared at her again, blinking rapidly in surprise.

“J-ja,” he mumbled, “Okay.”

Jester beamed. 

“Yay!” she said, “Thank you, Caleb!” 

She wrapped him in a quick hug that he did not reciprocate (not that she was surprised) before standing up. A giddiness filled her entire being, and she was far too excited to go to bed now, even despite her soreness.

“"I should probably head to bed now," she said, though she didn’t want to leave,“Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Jester,” Caleb mumbled.

Laying in her bed, she could only look at the floor above her, heart singing in her chest.

Ever since Traveller Con, Jester had wanted a way to thank Caleb for what he'd done for her, and for everything else leading up to it. To give something special back to him, and teaching him a spell would be perfect. Plus, once they get back, she can finally prove to Essek that she is capable and can teach someone a spell too. And she was going to learn Zemnian, too! Though really, learning a new language was nowhere near as cool as getting to spend time with Caleb. 

She grinned at the thought of the wizard. Her feelings towards him had evolved dramatically in the past couple of months. Being around Caleb felt like flying and yet being grounded at the same time. It was something so strange, so different from how she had ever felt with anybody else before. And the longer she tried to keep the feeling deep inside of her, the stronger it seemed to grow.

Jester shot up in bed, an idea beginning to form in her mind. It’d be tricky, but she was more than capable of that. But it would be a way to make her feelings known and maybe.. just maybe, show him how deeply she cares for him, no matter how much he feels damned. 

***

As he sat on the floor again the next morning, someone quickly rapped at the door.

"Heelloo!" Jester greeted from the other side of the door, continuing to knock on it.

"H-Hello Jester. Uh, you can come in, you know." Caleb said.

The door swung open, and the salty sea air that came in with the wind was almost as strong as the smile Jester was giving him, which he returned.

“So,” she said as she sat down next to him, the edge of her dress covering his knee, “What do you want to do first?”

For a moment, he was transported back to a different floor of a different bedroom studying with a different girl. But then, he forced himself back into the present, a heaviness landing in his stomach.

“I, uh…” he mumbled, “We can start with, uh, the Zemnian.”

He pulled out a few sheets of parchment on which he’d scrawled vocabulary.

“The, um, the grammar is not the same as Common,” he began, “I don’t know how it compares to Infernal, but… it can be tricky. So, vocabulary first. Here is the word written in Zemnian,” he pointed to the first column, “Then the pronunciation, then the definition.”

Jester let out a low whistle. 

“Wow, Caleb,” she commended, “You really planned this whole thing out.”

He blushed slightly, averting his eyes as he smiled softly to himself. Maybe his old dream of becoming a teacher wasn’t entirely dead after all. He shook his head, trying to focus on the matter at hand.

“Danke, Jester,” he mumbled, “Danke.”

And so they spent the next forty-seven minutes working on basic vocabulary words. He had started with only the most basic, everyday words that he could think of, and while Jester was clearly working to learn it all, her far more creative mind kept interrupting the process.

“Ooo, how do you say pineapple?”

“What’s, like, the worst swear word in Zemnian?”

“How come Crownsguard made the list? I thought this was everyday stuff.”

After another fifty-three minutes Caleb began to teach Jester some simple phrases and basic sentences, when they heard a voice call out.

"Hey, Jester! Jester, could use your help!" Gallan shouted.

"Oh!" Jester quickly got up from beside Caleb before stopping at the door, "Sorry Cayleb! Gotta run!"

And just like that, Jester was off. Caleb smiled to himself before pulling out an additional piece of parchment and favorite quill.

_ Fart. Shit. Penis. Porn. Graffiti. Cupcake. Blueberry.  _

He paused for a moment before continuing.

_ Darling. Kiss. Hold. Adore. _

A nauseous sensation rose in him, but before he could do anything about it, there was a knock on the door.

“Caleb?” 

It was Fjord. 

“What is it, captain?” he called out, not ready to leave his work if it wasn’t entirely necessary.

“There’s a ship fast approaching. No one recognizes the flag, and if we’re about to get in a fight, I’d rather have you up on deck.”

Caleb sighed, screwing his ink bottle before getting up.

“Ja, okay.”

***

Jester was up early that morning and found herself a little restless, which wasn't uncommon since they've been on the waters.

She gathered some of her favourite paints, quietly sneaked out of her and Beau's room, and headed up onto the deck. She spent a good hour or so painting flowers for Yasha before she could no longer contain her excitement and bounded to his room. 

“Cay-leb!” she cried, banging on the door, which swung open a moment later. 

"Eager to learn aren't we?" he asked with a soft chuckle.

She nodded with a smile, her tail expressing her excitement behind her.

"So should we uh, continue from where we left off?"

Her smile fell as she pursed her lips, "Well.. I was wondering if we could do some lovey-dovey stuff."

He was clearly startled by the question. "W-what do you mean..?"

"Like," Jester trailed away from his gaze to the floor and twirled her fingers around each other, "you know, nicknames like 'honey' and 'darling', and stuff like 'you're wonderful' and 'I love you'.." She trailed off, hoping he didn't think she was actually saying that last one to him. Not that she didn't care for Caleb, but…

A hint of fear glimmered in his eyes as red began to colour his cheeks, "I-Well-uh- W-why do you want to know that?" He stuttered.

"Because..." She paused as she thought of an excuse. "I'm writing a book! So I just want to know all those lovey-dovey stuff lovers would say to each other."

He furrowed his brow and slightly tilted his head but still nodded. "O-okay then."

Oh shit. The way Caleb was so deep in thought made her panic, trying to figure out if she’d somehow said something wrong. But before she could come to any conclusions, he simply sighed.

“Okay. But, uh, I need a little bit of time to prepare for that… We-I mean, you are doing so well already-“ 

He was blushing.

_ Has she made things weird?  _

“It’s okay, Caleb,” she assured him, “Do you want to try to work on the Sending spell now?” 

“It’s okay,” he said, “I mean, I would like to work on it soon, but it will probably take a while, so… maybe we should just go over vocabulary words for now and then start up again tomorrow?”

Jester nodded. 

“Alright, let’s get to work.”

***

The next day, Jester was helping Veth organize cannonballs when the smaller woman, casually leaning against a cannon, began to talk.

“So,” Veth started, “You and Caleb have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

Oh no. Oh no. Veth had figured out about her crush and was going to probably tell her that Caleb wasn’t interested and that they’d talked about it. 

_ Play it cool. _

“Ja, I mean, he’s helping me learn Zemnian.”

Veth nodded casually. 

“Yep. He told me about that. He also said that you were writing a book?”

_ Shit. She had said that, hadn’t she? _ Jester nodded, trying to play along. 

“Ah-huh.”

“Jester! That’s so cool! What’s it about?”

“Oh, well, you know… it takes place in the Zemni Fields, which is why I needed Caleb’s help, and it’s about… a baker who can temporarily raise the dead, who uses his powers to solve mysteries and his childhood sweetheart who died and he brought back but now they can never touch each other again.”

_ Sure, that sounded like something that might be in one of her novels. Right? _

Veth looked confused.

“But wait, how can he bring people back but only for a little? That doesn’t make sense, Jester.”

“It’s a first draft,” she explained, “I’m working on it.”

Veth nodded. 

“Well, if you ever need an editor, I can try and help out.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

***

_ A novel _ , Jester had told him.

Really, it didn't seem like much of a stretch, considering that she already read a lot of them, so writing her own book doesn't sound out of place.

Because why else would she want to know  _ that _ from him?

Unless she saw those extra words he wrote down.. 

_ Stupid, Widogast.. _

He took out the parchment on which he wrote those words, and he wondered for a moment if he should just burn it and let it scatter to ashes just like everything else that was good in his life.

But as he looked at the words again, he didn't scrunch it up into a ball like he intended to..

_ Darling. Kiss. Hold. Adore. _

His heart felt like it burned as he added  _ Love _ without even telling his hand to. And he hung onto that word as if his life depended on it..

**_Love._ **

The one thing that has been handed to him on a silver platter even after he carelessly threw it away so long ago. The one thing he wished he could give back.. That he  _ desired _ to give it back. To give it back to her, to  _ love her- _

He folded up the parchment and tucked it into his pocket, a heavy sigh escaping from his lungs as he tried to ignore his heart that was beating like a drum.

***

"Hey Orly," Jester began as she wandered up to the tortle manning the wheel, "What is something... that you think is romantic to say to somebody?"

His head slowly turned to her, looking at her with that one squinted eye. "Weeelll.. I don’t know about words, but I do think m-m-music could be r-romantic." Orly said, letting one hand off of the wheel to blow his bagpipes, an.. interesting tune emitting from them.

Jester slightly cringed at the sound but smiled nonetheless.

"W-w-why.. do you ask though?"

She hoped her slight blush wasn't visible. "Oh. Well uh, haven't you heard? I'm writing a book! And it's about this princess that was locked up in a tower but then a guy showed up and then they left the tower together to find her old home and on the way they fell in love and then he became a prince! And she also has really long hair." Jester explained quicker than Orly probably could understand. 

_ And was that the same thing she told Veth? _

_ Probably not. _

"Weell.. okay.." He said, even though visibly confused.

"I just wanted to get some ideas so I could just, add to it, you know?" She said, mostly to fill the awkward silence. "Maybe I'll go ask someone else.."

“I’m not the m-m-most experienced with romance,” Orly said slowly, even for him, “It’s been a while, but I… I met this beautiful woman when I was young. I thought she must be an angel. But she was engaged to a m-m-marquis. So I offered my services as a bard so that I could sneak around his house and be with her.”

Jester leaned in. This was the good stuff, the sort of romance she’d been reading since she was little!

“Did you run away together?”

Orly chuckled.

“Wouldn’t be here if I had. Also would still have my eye, but that’s another story for another time.”

Jester frowned for just a moment before masking her disappointment with a sunny smile.

“That’s still a pretty cool story, Orly.”

"Still one of m-m-my personal favorites," A smile at the corner of his lips. "But uh.. good luck on that book you're writin', would love to see it."

She chuckled nervously to herself before smiling brightly again.

"Danke for the story, Orly!"

"W-what?"

"Don't worry about it!" Jester said as she skipped away.

Once she left, Orly laughed.

"Heh. Hope whatever this is, that she's actually trying to tell him.."

***

Caleb stared at the runes sketched out in front of him. It was starting to come together.

They had both agreed that since Jester had become decently fluent in Zemnian, they could move onto the Sending spell. Even though it might be a bit difficult.

“But it doesn’t matter what direction you’re facing, so that will- can you show me again?” he asked.

“Sure thing!” she said before beginning to cast, “Kiri, it’s me, Jester! How are you doing? We’re on our boat right now. Caleb and I are here, and we miss you so much!”

A pause and then.

“It’s me, Jester! Cay-leb,” she heard in her own voice, “A good egg,” in Caleb’s voice before hearing her own once more, “I miss you! Don’t eat humans, okay? Our boat? Pretty cool. I miss you! I miss you! I-“ 

The spell cut her off, and Jester chuckled sadly. They needed to get back to Hupperdook soon.

“What did she say?” Caleb asked curiously.

“She misses us,” she said, “And she called you a good egg.”

Caleb looked away, and Jester noticed that his cheeks had gone pink, which was always fun.

“Um, well, that is sweet of her. But, um… so, the copper wire-“

“Ja, you’ll definitely need that.”

Caleb nodded, though he didn’t quite seem completely present. 

“You okay, Caleb?” she asked.

“Mhm,” he hummed with a nod, “Let’s, uh, let’s get back to work.”

***

Caleb sighed. His study session with Jester today hadn’t been nearly as productive as he had hoped. Not that she had done anything differently or poorly; far from it. He had simply been distracted. In his defense, how could he not be when faced with a freshly freckled Jester Lavorre? 

He needed to stop, he admonished himself. She would never feel the same way about him. The only reason that they were spending so much time together now was because she was writing her book to combat the cabin fever, and his knowledge was proving to be useful. It had nothing to do with wanting to spend time with him, he reminded himself, he was just proving to be useful. Which was a good thing. Useful meant more afternoons filled with the scratching of quills against parchment and sitting with knees practically touching and stolen glances as he tried to count her new freckles. 

With another sigh, he picked up the copper wire that was so essential to the Sending spell. He could figure out Message, which was so similar, why couldn’t he figure this spell out? 

Wait. 

Was it? 

No, it couldn’t be. That was way too easy. 

He glanced at his notes. 

Unless… 

He sighed. There was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight, but with any luck, he might be able to crack it.

*** 

Like she had been for the past week, Jester headed to Caleb's room for their daily session together.

As usual, she knocked on the door with her excited good morning, but she heard no response.

_ Weird.. he would always answer her... _

She knocked again, a little longer this time.

Still nothing.

Jester quietly opened the door, a slight worry building up in her throat.

But it immediately washed away like the waves when she saw Caleb asleep by his bed as if he was a teddy bear propped up against it on the floor. Flaming orange hair obscuring a bit of his face as his head was leaning against the edge of the bed, surrounded by paper and parchment covered in various runes, some even with Zemnian, and a copper wire in one of his limp hands.

Smiling, she picked up a blanket that had been knocked to the ground. Sure, they had all seen Caleb fall asleep in the strangest of configurations, but that didn’t mean he didn’t deserve to be comfortable. As stealthily as she could, she covered him with the blanket. His head lolled and, for a moment, Jester worried that she had woken him up. But he kept on sleeping. 

“Sleep well, my beautiful wizard,” she whispered, brushing a strand of hair out of his face and delicately placing a kiss on his forehead before making a quick exit. 

Well, now what? Her schedule had dramatically opened up in a way that it hadn’t in quite some time. 

Jester strolled towards the room she shared with Beau, plopping down on the bed and pulling out her study guide of Zemnian words. She half-heartedly began to practice her vocab words for a few minutes before Beau strode in. 

“Hey,” Beau said, “You’re not with Caleb. Everything okay?” 

Beau had been super supportive of her attempts to learn Zemnian and was, thankfully, one of the only people who hadn’t asked what her book was about. 

“I think he pulled an all-nighter,” she explained. 

Beau nodded thoughtfully as she sprawled out on the floor, pulling out her notebook to study. Jester eyed the notes curiously for a moment before turning back to her own studying.

They sat in silence for a while before it became nearly impossible for her to focus on anything.

“Beau?” she asked.

“Yeah, Jes?” Beau responded, not looking up from her notes. 

“What do you think is the most romantic thing you can say to someone?”

The monk turned to her, an eyebrow raised quizzically. 

“Why do you think I know what’s romantic?”

“Oh, well, you know, you have the most experience of any of us when it comes to this stuff. And I’m trying to write the big speech where the heroine tells her lover just how much she loves him and I’m totally stuck.”

Beau nodded, though her frown and thoughtful expression made her hard to read. 

“What’s the story?” she asked after a while.

“Oh, um, well, he’s a spy,” Jester explained, “From the Empire. But he’s on the run now, because he left them. And he was trying to run away to the Menagerie Coast. But he was really badly injured in a fight, and there wasn’t a cleric anywhere nearby, so the daughter of a baroness took him in and has been taking care of him. And the winter is really bad and he’s sick, but they make a plan to run away to the Coast together, but then while they’re snowed in, they fall in love. And they get to Nicodranas, and she has to convince him that he isn’t too evil to love.”

"Hmm," Beau hummed as she looked to the floor beside her and thought, "I'm.. I'm not too sure about me but, what it sounds like he needs to hear, is that it doesn't matter what he's done, but what he's going to do. Or.. something like that."

“Ja, but like, how do I make it sound poetic and wonderful? He’s so smart, Beau. And I have to make this perfect, or else it all falls apart!”

Beau stared at her, and for a brief moment, she wondered if Beau realized that they weren’t really talking about a novel.

“Well, you asked me what I think is romantic, so I’ll tell you: honesty. These books are always built on some sort of grandiose bullshit. They can never just talk and feel like people. They’re a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not what love is, at least, not to me. So, if she’s gonna get her former spy guy to believe that there’s something good inside of him and that she loves him no matter what he did in his past… I think she just needs to speak from the heart. And if he isn’t into that one hundred percent genuine version of her, then fuck him!” 

Jester chuckled weakly.

“Ja?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Beau said with a smile, “Yeah, I think she’s cool enough that it shouldn’t make a difference if she’s poetic or not.”

Jester curled into herself a little, her hair (thankfully) also hiding her blush as she thought for a moment.

Beau was right, she shouldn't worry about how perfect, or beautiful or poetic it is, as long as it comes from the heart, it's already perfect.

Her next thought was what made her heart sink to her stomach. 

But what if he doesn't accept it? And he doesn't like what she says and turns her down? Oh no oh no oh no-

"You alright Jes?"

Jester immediately shot her head up, "Oh I'm fine, I'm fine!" She assured perhaps a little too brightly.

Beau raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Okay then.. If you say so."

“Ja, I just… there's so much to write.”

“Well, then, best get to it.”

***

Jester stared at the door to Caleb’s room, anxiously wringing her hands. The sheet of paper in her pocket seemed to weigh a million pounds. She didn’t have to do this today. She could wait. But, at the same time, they were going to be reaching port soon, and she wasn’t sure she’d have the courage to ever tell him once they were back on land.

She sighed and knocked on the door. 

“Jester?” Caleb called.

“Ja, it’s me!” 

There was silence as she heard shuffling on the other side of the door before it opened to reveal a smiling Caleb.

“Hey!” she greeted, “Can I read you something?”

Caleb began blinking rapidly in that way he sometimes did when caught off guard. 

“Ja, o-of course,” he said, “And then I have something to show you as well.”

This was it. She was going to do it. He let her in, and she plopped down on the bed. 

_ Come on, Jester. You can do this. _

She pulled out the folded sheet of paper, nervously eyeing him.

“Just let me get through it before you tell me everything that’s wrong with it, okay?” she giggled.

He smiled at her kindly, his blue eyes twinkling.

“Of course, blueberry,” he mumbled before sitting down on the floor.

Jester cleared her throat before beginning.

“I know that you probably won’t believe me, but please, listen. For a long time, I was so lonely. I read so many stories to escape, but it didn’t change that I didn’t have friends. So when I found some, I thought that everything had clicked into place. I was going to be the heroine of one of my books, finally. 

But life isn’t like a book. There isn’t an author who’s carefully crafting our lives to be the best story ever. Giants can be good. Dragons can be lonely. And girls locked in a tower can’t always wait for a knight in shining armor. Life doesn’t work that way. It’s way more chaotic than that. And more subtle, too. It’s not about maids in towers and handsome knights falling in love at first sight. It’s about buying her favorite sweets and using your cat to help her win at cards and being study buddies and liking her even when she has her guard down. 

Caleb, I know that you were forced to do some pretty terrible things back when you were at the Academy. And I know that you think you can never be forgiven for it, and maybe you can’t. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I see you every day, and you are a good man. You are good and smart and nice and very handsome and you don’t smell bad at all anymore. And maybe I’m just stupid and I’ve messed everything up just now, but I really like you, Caleb. Like, a lot. Like, maybe love? I don’t know. I don’t know if you even feel the same way about me, but if I didn’t tell you soon, I was gonna explode.”

Caleb began blinking rapidly, standing stiff.

“O-oh, I… Jester, I-“ he stammered.

_ Oh no, did she ruin everything? Was this bad? _

There was a knock on the door, causing both of them to jump.

“Hey, guys, dinner’s ready,” Caduceus called in.

Jester opened her mouth to speak, but Caleb was already halfway to the door.

_ Oh no. He didn’t feel the same way. Gods, she was so stupid. _

***

_ Dummkopf, dummkopf, dummkopf- _

He stared determinedly at his plate.

Everyone else had headed back to their rooms, even Jester, who had been staring at her own plate the whole time.

_ Do not look at her. You’ve tricked her. You don’t deserve to look at her, let alone-- _

“You know it’s better to provide someone light, rather than leave them in the dark, right, Mr. Caleb?”

He jumped at the sound of Caduceus’ voice, glancing around. They were alone. Really, he shouldn’t be surprised that Caduceus knew. It was almost impossible to hide anything from Caduceus, so there was no point trying to hide what he was going through.

“But what if the fire the light comes from burns them?” he asked quietly, staring up at the firbolg man. 

Caduceus chuckled.

“Well, then you have to figure out how to keep the fire back,” he said simply, ”Besides, she’s not a moth. If she didn’t want to be near the flames, she could resist.”

Caleb nodded, too many thoughts racing throughout his head to process anything other than the nauseous feeling that was rising inside of him.

***

Jester laid on her back in the crow's nest, tears rushing down the side of her face.

How could she have thought someone had feelings for her  _ again? _

_ This was such a bad idea, this was such a bad idea- _

A message reached her ears.

It was Caleb.

“Jester, I... I was overwhelmed when we were talking earlier. I didn’t think I could ever- you know, I’m not a very good person- scheiße!” 

There was a pause as she giggled.

“This is harder than I thought. But... I-I do care for you very much, Jester. So if you would have me, I will try to be the man you deserve.”

She realized her mouth was hanging open as she listened to his message. Caleb liked her back? She couldn't believe it!

She felt like her heart was going to break out of her chest as she tried to gather her thoughts, fingers wiggling as she began to count.

"Caleb, you did it! I'm glad you're not mad. I was worried. I think you're pretty great already, so-- meet me at the crow's nest?"

She waited, fluttering in anticipation. Caleb liked her back! Head buzzing with excitement, she stood at the edge of the crow’s nest ready to pull Caleb in the moment he was within reach.

She did exactly that, panting just a little as he straightened up. 

"So, hey!" She greeted breathlessly, trying to ignore how hard she was blushing.

But he was too. 

“Jester,” he said, his voice sounding breathless, and she suspected it was not from the climb, “I- there are things we need to talk about, things that I have not told you about that you deserve to know.”

She nodded, having been more or less expecting this. He was going to tell her everything, finally, and the last of the distance between them would be breached at last. 

“I know,” she said quietly, surprising even herself by how shy she sounded, “But before you do, can I kiss you?” 

He stared at her, frozen in surprise for a brief moment before smiling. 

“O-okay,” he mumbled, taking a tentative step closer to her. 

Hesitantly he reached out his hands, warm and blackened fingertips cupping her face. 

Jester’s heart began pounding rapidly. This was going to be her very first real kiss! She closed her eyes as they inched closer and closer until…

A shiver went down her spine as warm lips connected with her own. Caleb’s usual trepidation slowly melted away until he was expertly leading her in this dance of sorts.

_ So this was why the stories always ended with a kiss,  _ she thought with satisfaction as she upped the intensity just a little. Caleb matched her, and then some. 

_ I have so much to learn, _ she realized,  _ But that’s okay. We can learn together. _

Jester found herself wanting more, and was getting bolder; biting his lip with her fangs as her fingers weaved into his hair, almost taking down his ponytail. And he seemed to be a little surprised by this, soon trailing into her hair and kissing her deeper in response.

_ Yes, there was so much both of them needed to learn,  _ she pondered as their lips slowly parted, leaving her staring at his mouth longing for more. 

She grinned.

_ And luckily, they were both pretty great teachers. _


End file.
